Key question

• What are the implications for society if aggression is due to nature and not nurture ?
• A01 - aggression purely explained by nature, this would change the way we see punishment for aggressive behaviour consider biological treatments
• A02 - Luis Suárez increase levels of testosterone

  High levels of testosterone = high level of athletic performance

  Hormone likely triggers Flight or fight response player defending suarez is perceived as a threat so he bites him due to his heightened fight or flight response

  Top level athletes seem to have more of this hormone
• Aggression entirely biologically based - Suarez aggression will not be his own fault - behaviours due to biology - rather than financial punishment may need to use drugs to target and decrease testosterone

  Provides Suarez with an “inbuilt excuse” for actions
• Nature is what we think as pre-writing and his influence by genetic inheritance and other biological factors such as hormones and neurotransmitters
• Nurture is generally seen as the influence of environmental factors after you were born

  parenting meeting different people experiences
• Louis Suarez handed 10 game band for his bite on Chelsea‘s Ivanovich - Charged of violent conduct
• brain areas

  • amygdala and prefrontal cortex are associated with aggression -
  • amygdala - responsible for threat perception: the player defending suarez is the threat and he may have seen an angry look on his face which caused him to react to it so bit the player.
  • coccaro et al (2007) found that people who have extreme reactive aggression (impulsive, hot blooded) show higher levels of amygdala activity when viewing images of angry faces
• Brain areas

  • prefrontal cortex: responsible for impulse control and decision making
  • frontal lobe is used to header balls in football - as a result suarez may have unknown damage to this area so makes him likely to act impulsively therefore he cannot control his bite leading to punishments
  • if its true, being banned from playing wont affect his behaviour at all, methods like brain stimulation may be need to adjust his low activity in PFC